Comics Cornerstone: Carnage’s Rampage Claims Two New Victims!

Hello everyone! It’s officially the start of a new semester at USF and with that comes a brand-new installment of “Comics Cornerstone”! I apologize for the lack of posts recently. But, that’s school for you. The good news is I’ll be publishing two today to pick up the slack! Today’s first post will be covering the second issue of “Absolute Carnage”. I’ve really been enjoying this series so far and I can’t wait to share my thoughts! Now, without further ado, on with the review!

Writer Donny Cates is continuing to horrifically devastate the Marvel Universe in “Absolute Carnage” and I absolutely love it! The story gets more intriguing and compelling with every turn of the page and it’s relentless in doing so. Not as much happened in this issue as the first. However, the things that do happen will definitely have a huge impact on the story and the characters going forward. No spoilers, but there are two characters in particular who will most likely be forever changed by what they experienced here. Not just physically, but emotionally as well.

So, we start off with Venom and Spider-Man barely escaping from The Ravencroft Mental Institution with their lives after a brutal confrontation with Carnage and his underlings. If you remember my review of the first issue, the two heroes had to go to Ravencroft to break out Norman Osborn. We pick up here with Carnage having infected Norman with his symbiote and nearly killing Spider-Man and Venom. For once, Venom is the logical one of the two as Spider-Man would rather stay and try to free Norman. A suicide-mission. Thankfully, Venom is able to get both of them out in one piece. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to grab Norman. After a brief strategizing session in a cemetery, Spider-Man goes off to warn the other heroes who might be on Carnage’s hit list. It’s at this point that Spidey disappears for the rest of the issue.

A few minor things happen that I dare not spoil, and then we pick up with Miles Morales and Scorpion facing off against a horde of symbiotes in a shopping district of New York. Simply put, things aren’t going well. It seems the two of them have agreed to a temporary truce until the symbiotes have been taken care of. Easier said than done! It’s at this point that we cut to a nest that Carnage has fabricated where he and Norman are having a conversation about Carnage’s ultimate plan. This is where we start to see the potential for a betrayal by Norman. The seeds of dissent are being planted and that could ultimately be Carnage’s downfall. The two of them definitely don’t see eye to eye and it feels like Norman is only playing along as long as it suits him. Though this does seem like a predictable plot and, with Cates writing, it’s never safe to assume. I fully expect a surprise to come out of left field in the near future.

Getting back to Venom now. He finally stumbles across the fight going on between Miles, Scorpion, and the symbiote army. Unfortunately, he gets there a bit too late as Scorpion suffers a catastrophic blow with the removal of his spleen. What happens after that is something you’ll have to read for yourself! Or, you know, just wait until my review of issue 3 when I’m forced to recap events of this issue.

Overall, this event has got me so excited! I said it last issue and I’ll say it again here: This is THE BEST Spider-Man related event in years! Maybe ever! Bold words, I know. But I feel like it’s already earned its place in the Spider-Man mythos. And there are still three issues left! That just goes to show how excellent of a writer Donny Cates is. Everything he’s written, whether it be his independent books or his work for Marvel, he puts all his effort into it and excels beyond expectations every time. You know, I think this guy has a future. But, that’s pretty much it for this review at least. Later today, I’ll be putting up my review of the 6-issue mini-series: “Spider-Man: City at War”. That’ll be up sometime this evening. Until then, stay comical!

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Baily Vis

Hi! My name is Baily Vis. I joined The Vessel writing team back in February of 2019 and am in charge of The Streaming Spotlight and Comics Cornerstone. My interest in comic-related media began when I was about 10 years old with a random issue of "Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man." This gave birth to my overall interest in writing and the science fiction genre. That's why in the Fall of 2016 I enrolled at USF to pursue a career in media.